Blocked tear duct?!

Hi ladies, Anyone elses baby suffer with this? How does it look and how often does it need to be cleaned? My LO (little one) since birth has had this. Didnt bother him much i would just give it a wipe at nappy changes. Doc advised in last check up at about 3 months that it was fine it can take up to a year for tear ducts to work properly. But this week its got a lot more gooey yellow, red skin around it from me cleaning it and him rubbing it. Im thinking is it an infection now. It has a yellow colour i know thats not good and i will bring him to doc asap but just wondering on the off chance is anyone elses LO (little one) the same with a yellowy discharge from the eye that will crust when dried in? Sorry gross i know the doc just said it is common....

Comments (16)

My eldest daughter had a blocked tear duct as a baby and had to have a tiny op at 15mth to unblock it, it’s been perfect since then and she’ll be 12 on Sunday!! Try massaging gently in the corner of her eye to work any blockage loose and always use sterile salt water to clean/wipe it not just wet wipes etc to avoid infection xx

My LO (little one) doesn’t have one but my older daughter did until she was past a year old, doctor said it would just clear up on its own. Just have to massage and wipe ideally with sterile water or breast milk is good too! If it’s infected the actual eyeball will be red which it’s not just with the duct.

What you describe happened to my baby and it wasn’t infected at all. Every time she woke from a nap her eyelashes were covered with gross yellow gunk. I was sure it was an infection but the doctor said it was just the blocked ducts. I cleaned them with cotton wool and saline solution and after about a week it completely cleared up and now she cries tears whereas before she didn’t.

We had this with my LO (little one) and he woke one morning and it looked really red and sore. As it was the weekend I called 111 and they directed us to outpatients at the hospital who then sent us to A&E so they could get it seen by the opthalmology dept. They did a few tests to check the infection and gave us some drops which cleared up the gunk in a few days. Definitely worth getting it checked in case they can give you something to help.

My LO (little one) was the same and the doctors said exactly the same thing. Over a couple of days I just cleaned it 2 or 3 times with cooled boiled water, it then got worse and a couple of days later completely disappeared. He’a 5 months and it only cleared up a week or so ago.

Mine also has this yellowy gunk you describe, the doctor wasn't worried but it needs cleaning from time to time, DD's eye seems to be improving but I clean it each time I see the gunk, no longer every day. What are you using to wipe it? Maybe the texture is too rough? I use sterile compresses with a special saline solution for eyes that doc prescribed

My eldest daughter had a blocked tear duct as a baby and had to have a tiny o...

Posted
07/12/2018

My eldest daughter had a blocked tear duct as a baby and had to have a tiny op at 15mth to unblock it, it’s been perfect since then and she’ll be 12 on Sunday!! Try massaging gently in the corner of her eye to work any blockage loose and always use sterile salt water to clean/wipe it not just wet wipes etc to avoid infection xx

Thank you. I have been using boiled cooled water on a cotton pad but havnt been massaging it much as he kicks up a fuss when i try but will persist and hopefully it does the trick x

My LO doesn’t have one but my older daughter did until she was past a yea...

Posted
07/12/2018

My LO doesn’t have one but my older daughter did until she was past a year old, doctor said it would just clear up on its own. Just have to massage and wipe ideally with sterile water or breast milk is good too! If it’s infected the actual eyeball will be red which it’s not just with the duct.

What you describe happened to my baby and it wasn’t infected at all. Every ...

Posted
07/12/2018

What you describe happened to my baby and it wasn’t infected at all. Every time she woke from a nap her eyelashes were covered with gross yellow gunk. I was sure it was an infection but the doctor said it was just the blocked ducts. I cleaned them with cotton wool and saline solution and after about a week it completely cleared up and now she cries tears whereas before she didn’t.

Is it a special saline solution for eyes and would i need a prescription for it? Thanks x

We had this with my LO and he woke one morning and it looked really red and...

Posted
07/12/2018

We had this with my LO and he woke one morning and it looked really red and sore. As it was the weekend I called 111 and they directed us to outpatients at the hospital who then sent us to A&E so they could get it seen by the opthalmology dept. They did a few tests to check the infection and gave us some drops which cleared up the gunk in a few days. Definitely worth getting it checked in case they can give you something to help.

Thanks. Over this weekend I am taking pics of it to show the doc how bad it can be as last time he fobbed it off because it looked fine when we went in but it gets really bad at certain times of the day. I want to show him the extent of it. Will get it checked as I feel its gotton worse despite my efforts. Thanks x

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